Buffalo Films: 16 feature films, 33 from WNY highlight 9-day event

Halloween may be more than a month away, but Buffalo movie fans with a taste for the scary, supernatural and otherwise fantastical look forward to September, when it’s time for the Amazing Fantasy Fest film festival.

For 15 years (initially as Buffalo Screams Horror Film Festival, later as Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival), Gregory Lamberson and his team of curators have been presenting solid programs of imaginative cinema of all varieties.

Of course, “imaginative cinema” covers a lot of ground, and so does AFF.

“You can’t pigeonhole us,” Lamberson says in a press statement. “We run the gamut from monster movies to musicals, with an underlying goal of promoting local artists.” (Of the 94 films programmed, 33 were produced in Western New York.) 

Lamberson is also a filmmaker with a resume going back to his classic Slime City, shot in Manhattan in 1988. AFF will host the premiere of his latest, The Frenzy Moon, based on his trilogy of werewolf novels and utilizing practical effects (i.e., non-CGI.) 

FESTIVAL TRAILER:

Other locally filmed features include Dyngus Day (I will never understand why it took until 2025 to get a horror comedy set on this holiday), Justin Brylinski’s relationship comedy AngelFish and a 30th anniversary screening of James Gribbins’s campy monster movie Shadow Creature. 

Taking up the main screen at the Dipson Amherst Theater from Friday, Sept. 12, through Thursday, Sept. 18, followed by two days (Sept. 19 and 20) at the Screening Room at the Boulevard Mall, AFF has programmed 16 feature films and 78 shorts, organized in blocks. Most screenings include a Q&A with someone from the film. 

A Festival Pass can be purchased at the Amherst Theatre and Screening Room for $80 ($60 for students and seniors). Individual screening tickets are available at https://amherst.dipsontheatres.com.

The full schedule is below.

— M. Faust

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Amazing Fantasy Fest Schedule

(From https://www.amazingfantasyfest.com)

Blocks with features list the features first and then the shorts, but the shorts will play before the features. All Q&As are tentative.

Friday, Sept. 12, at Dipson’s Amherst Theatre

2:15   Block 1    Journey (Fantasy, Australia, 71 mins) Epic sword and sorcery quest with exciting visual effects. Preceded by Foil Guy vs. Anvil (Stop Motion Animation, US, 1 min), Summon a Gravedigger (Stop Motion, US, 7:30), and and Caliburn (Fantasy, US, 16 mins), based on King Arthur.

4:15  Block 2    The Box, the Con, and the Handsomest Man in Fandom (Doc, CA, 40 mins) – The contents of a bookstore box provide a lighthearted look at geek culture history. Q&A with director Paul Johnson. Shorts: Deb & Joan (SF, US, 14:20) and Frea (Fantasy, US, 10 mins), Q&A with director Ashlyn Nolan.

6:40  Block 3    Frenzy Moon – Festival director Greg Lamberson’s werewolf movie filmed in Clarence, starring a cast of talented locals. Encore screening Mon 9/15. Short: Like Me (Horror, US, 6:40), Q&A with director Ashley Lauren.

9:15  Block 4    Straight On Till Morning (Horror, US, 104 mins) – Two women on a road trip encounter a twisted family of psychopaths in this nail-biting journey into terror! Short: The End of October (Horror, US, 7 mins), Q&A with director Tess Holbrook.

Saturday. Sept. 13, at Dipson’s Amherst Theatre

1:30  Block 5    A Serbian Documentary (Documentary, US, 83 mins) Stephen Biro’s entertaining look at the making of A Serbian Film, possibly the most controversial horror film ever made.

3:15  Block 6    Zombie Chronicles (Horror, NYS, 1 hr. 55 mins) An exciting and terrifying look at the zombie apocalypse in NYC. Q&A with filmmaker Marvin Suarez. Short: The Good, the Blood and the Bloodthirsty: Sun’s Salvation (Animated, US, 5 mins).

6:20  Block 7    Three Amazing Horror Shorts: Le Singe Bleu (Dark Fantasy, CAN, 12 mins directed by Jennifer Miville: An immortal man faces the inevitable death of his wife. Mother Grimm (Experimental, MA, 36 mins) directed by Jason Lake:  A New England woman is trapped in a surrealist nightmare. The Showffeur (Horror, WNY, 38 mins) directed by Taylor Martin: Two coupes kidnapped by a ride share driver are forced to attend his sadistic birthday party. Q&As with all three directors.

9:00   Block 8    Humanoids from the Deep: Special 45^th Anniversary screening of Roger Corman’s exploitation classic about mutant sea creatures driven to mate with human women. Short: Multi-Level Massacre (Horror Comedy, MA, 9 mins). Q&A with director Ashes Homon-Rahall.

OFF BEAT SUNDAY, Sept. 14, at Dipson’s Amherst Theater

1:15  Block 9   Tales from Clipper Coffee (Anthology, NYS, 60 mins) The denizens of a Bronx coffee shop experience strange phenomena. Q&A with director Jerry Landi.  Shorts: Sugarcrash (Satire, WNY Student, 1 min), Q&A with Eva Rose Young, and Creation (Experimental, MA, 5 mins), Q&A with Skip Shea.

3:30          Amazing Fantasy Awards (“The Festers”)

4:45  Block 10 Dyngus Day (Horror Comedy, WNY, 99 mins). The September Brothers decided Western New York needed its own holiday horror slasher film folk horror comedy! Q&A with Michael Buttino and Golden Groves. Short: A Rough Start (Horror-Comedy, US, 5 mins).

7:10 Block 11   Three Buffalo Horror Comedies: Arcade Daze (21 mins) Q&A with Daniel Conklin and Bill Murray III; Kiss the Cook (sequel to Junk Food, 23 mins) Q&A with Angel Barber and Connor Greczyn; and Phantom Frights (25 mins) Q&A with Kristen Skeet and Eugene Bofill.

9:00  Block 12 WTF – Astral Plane Drifter (90 mins) – The best western/sci-fi/Kung Fu comedy in the history of ever! Q&A with filmmaker/star Mike Caravella. Preceded by Midnight Snack (Horror Comedy, USA, 4 mins)

Monday, Sept. 15, at Dipson’s Amherst Theatre

2:00  Block 13 Burnt Flowers (Thriller, UK, 99 mins) Michael Fausti’s 1960s- set crime thriller is part noir, part conspiracy thriller, and part serial killer chiller. Fausti previously directed No Exit, which we screened. Excellent cinematography and score.

4:00 Block 14   Daydreamers (Experimental, China, 50 mins) – The most immersive film of the festival: In a world where life after death is fact, two friends get high while taking supernatural drugs. Short: Black Moon (Action, US,14 mins) directed by Buffalo native Van Dinh.

6:00   Block 15 Nastell (Drama, WNY, 51 mins) A drama about young people, fashion, and the drug culture. Q&A with director Cydney Ramos. Short: by Forever (CNY Student, 14 mins), Q&A with  George Pavlidis, and Escaping Gravity (CNY Student, 18:45).

8:15   Block 16 Frenzy Moon (Horror, WNY, 81 mins) Encore screening of festival director Gregory Lamberon’s werewolf film. Q&A with Lamberson, cast and crew.

Tuesday, Sept. 16, at Dipson’s Amherst Theatre

4:00   Block 17 Vincent – A Story of Supernatural Friendship (Horror, Denmark, 83 mins – English subtitles) A small town coming of age story about ice cream, friendship, and monsters. Short: Midnight Snack (Horror, Canada, 2 mins).

6:00  Block 18 Best Served Cold (Mixed Genres, WNY, 55 mins) Women use murder to get what they want. Q&A with Larry Saunders and Keith Lukowski. Short: Endurance (Comedy, WNY, 8 mins) Q&A with Owen Greene.                                        

7:45  Block 19 Cain Came Home (Supernatural, US, 80 mins). A surreal, time-bending ghost story about estranged twin brothers written, starring, and co-directed by Brett Cameron Glassberg (with Kennedy J. Baruch). Shorts: The Invaders (WNY, 1:20) and There Was (WNY, 5 mins), both created by Amanda Besl; and the crime drama Gaspers (WNY, 13 mins), directed by Geno Delmar. Q&As with all three filmmakers.

Wednesday, Sept. 17, at Dipson’s Amherst Theatre

2:20  Block 20 International Shorts  (97 mins; subtitled): Cloudy Day (Stop Motion, Poland, 1:18); Nakay: Gold & Blood (Adventure, Italy, 7 mins); Anecoica (Horror, Spain, 7 mins); The City (Dystopian, Ukraine, 8 mins); Script (Horror, Italy, 8 mins); I’m Here (Horror, Cambodia, 10 mins); Umbra (Horror, Spain, 10 mins); Primacy (Horror, Spain, 20 mins); On the Shore of an Ancient Sea (Fantasy, Russia, 11 mins); Evil Sex (1Spain, 14 mins).

4:30   Block 21 United Kingdom Shorts (80 mins): Grab (Experimental, 1:33); Aster (Stop Motion Animation, 6 mins); Where Are All the Gay Superheroes? (Comedy, 15 mins); The Dead of Winter (Horror, 12 mins); Cariddi’s Graveyard: Tales of Mare Nostrum (Adventure, 45 mins).

6:15  Block 22 AngelFish (Comedy-Drama, WNY, 105 mins) World Premiere of Justin Brylinski’s debut feature, a lighthearted romantic ccomedy about a young man searching for his perfect match, his white whale, his angelfish. Q&A with Justin.

8:40  Block 23  Bizarre Buffalo: Close Your Eyes (Crime, 5 mins) directed by Hope Muehlbauer; 3 Strikes You’re Dead (Crime/Horror, 10 mins) directed by Ryan Zunner and Rachel Jennetti; The Paradox Payout (Crime/Sci-Fi, 13 mins) directed by Erica Frase; Contempt (Crime, 11  mins) directed by Cat Martinez; Realm of Reality (Fantasy, 14 mins) directed by  Jo O’Donnell. Q&As with all the filmmakers.

Thursday. Sept.18, at Dipson’s Amherst Theatre

4:00  Block 24 Dead, White & Blue (Comedy/Experimental) – An outrageous, over-the-top satire of politics and racism constructed entirely from public domain stock footage that was then dubbed.  See it!

6:00  Block 25 Western New York Love: Three unusual tales of 716 romance. Reverie (Romantic Comedy, 21 mins) directed by Gabrielle Nunzio; Brainless (Sci-Fi/Romance, 23 mins) directed by Phill Will; Courting Death (Supernatural Comedy, 32 mins) directed by J.A. Latona. Q&As with each.

8:20  Block 26 Western New York Horror Shorts: Eight tales of 716 terror! Cupcake  (3 mins) directed by Amanda L. Woomer; Dead Men (7 mins) directed by Cat Martinez & Tim Watson; Departure (12 mins) directed by Josh McMillan; Shadows (11 mins) directed by Tim Watson; Thrillogy (16 mins) directed by Ryan Elizabeth Brady; The Monster of My Mind (10 mins) directed by Bradley Liverman; Aaron My Friend (6 mins) directed by Chris D’Addario; Underbelly (8 mins) directed by Taylor Martin. Q&As for all!

Friday, Sept.19, at The Screening Room Cinema Arts Cafe

6:30   Block 27 Cherry Baby (Crime Drama/LGBTQ, CNY, 83 mins) World Premiere: A waitress and an ex-con run off to Vegas, only to be targeted by the waitress’s vindictive ex-husband. Filmed in Binghamton! Q&A with writer-director Adam Holley and cast members.

8:30  Block 28 Shadow Creature (Horror, WNY, 90 mins): Special 30^th Anniversary Screening! James Gribbins’s campy monster movie is part of Buffalo’s movie legacy and has become a hard-to-find cult film. Q&A with Jimmy after the show.                                                                

Saturday, Sept. 20, at The Screening Room Cinema Arts Cafe

5:30  Block 29 Amazing Animation Festival: 15 Animated shorts from around the world, including Western New York: Oh! My God (China,1:30); Undertow (US, 2:32); Be Careful of the Vampire (Korea, 3:36); Time Flies (US, 4:25); Soul-less (Animated, SA, 4:38); Robot Tank 2030 (US, 4:59); The Titanium Angel (UK, 8 mins); The Adjudicator’s Pawn II (US, 8:20); The Resort of Magic, Fantasy and Definitely NOT Monsters (US, 5:33); Birds of a Feather (WNY, 4:44) directed by Katie Coboss; The Lost Echo (Canada, 8:20); The Corridor (Iran, 8:36); I Am Duck (US, 12:30); In Half (Animation, Spain, 24 mins); Torch and Hammer (WNY, 3:30) directed by Rev. Samuel.

8:00  Block 30 The Other Christmas Show (Musical Comedy, MA, 118 mins) – We end this year on HILARIOUS (and not-so-spiritual) notes: A down-on-his-luck theatre director attempts a musical spectacular to capitalize on the publicity of a large-scale production of “A Christmas Carol – think Waiting for Guffman with songs! Q&A with writer-director-star Adam W. Griswald. A Must See for everyone in Buffalo’s theatre community!